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How empathetic are you?

Yes, obviously this only tests one facet of empathy, but still. It's an interesting test.

I scored 31. I found the ones I got wrong to be quite interesting though I can't say what they were without potentially giving away answers. Essentially I scored exceptionally well, which didn't surprise me as I've always known I'm good at reading people, but from the ones I got wrong it is quite clear I have a blindspot in one very specific area.

Post your results and discuss! You should probably take the test before reading any further since people are likely to discuss the answers. Unless nobody else finds this interesting. Which would be lame. Because it's totally interesting. No, really, it is.

Edit: It only takes a couple of minutes.

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks

Heh, I also got 31. Pretty good test, I'd say. I took an empathy test once before, but it was written. They gave situations and you had to choose how you'd feel or how you'd react or something, but that had too many "it depends" feelings for me. I think this test is better, though I got a very similar score on both. But I guess it depends on how well others do - perhaps many people score very high on this particular test.

I took an empathy test once before, but it was written. They gave situations and you had to choose how you'd feel or how you'd react or something, but that had too many "it depends" feelings for me.

Agreed. Also, with those types of tests, I don't trust myself not to simply give what I feel is the "right" answer rather than giving a true answer. And by "right" I mean the answer which will score most highly. It's not that I want to cheat, it's more to do with that bias observed in psychology where subjects will try to behave in the way they think the researchers want them to. Anyway, point is, you really can't cheat with the eye test, accidentally or otherwise.

Originally Posted by Llamas

But I guess it depends on how well others do - perhaps many people score very high on this particular test.

It said the average range, I think, is between 22-30. Anything above 30 and you're particularly empathetic, at least when it comes to reading eyes. Anything under 22 and you struggle in this area. Though I'm not sure if that was the average range for a male or both males and females combined.

Originally Posted by _Lost_

I got a 23. I'm surprised I got so many right, to be honest... I'm much better with body language than eyes.

It did say that many people are surprised by how many they get right. I suppose people generally don't expect to be skilled at something they've never consciously practiced. Assuming most people don't consciously practice this.

Originally Posted by Llamas

Interesting to see my wrong answers, as well.

Was there a theme at all? I'm clearly biased when it comes to seeing that people like me. I had trouble accurately identifying things like flirting, for example. This makes total sense with what I already knew about myself. It's really interesting though. Clearly I'm good at reading eyes, but when what I'm seeing doesn't match with a preconceived notion the preconceived notion wins out. I guess seeing isn't believing after all...

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks

Was there a theme at all? I'm clearly biased when it comes to seeing that people like me. I had trouble accurately identifying things like flirting, for example. This makes total sense with what I already knew about myself. It's really interesting though. Clearly I'm good at reading eyes, but when what I'm seeing doesn't match with a preconceived notion the preconceived notion wins out. I guess seeing isn't believing after all...

I don't recall if there was a theme. But I'm totally with you on the latter half here. If someone's into me whom I'm not into, I never see it until it's blatantly pointed out to me. And when I'm into someone, I tend to ignore signs that they're NOT into me and believe they are. So yeah, I can read eyes, I guess, but when feelings are involved, all bets are off.

I'm much better with body language and tone of voice than with just eyes.

I would assume most people find body language and tone of voice easier than eyes, though I'm not certain what I'm basing that assumption on.

I also think it's easier to fake tone of voice and body language, so watching eyes can be a good way to get a read on someone who is actively trying to mislead you. But that's a whole other conversation I suppose.

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks

I'm most embarrassed by picking dominant when the eyes were friendly. That's almost the opposite answer.

I picked dominant too! Maybe they dropped the ball on that one?

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks